The Northwestern 3A/4A Conference tournament begins Monday night.

The Watauga High men and women will host first-round games Monday night at Lentz-Eggers Gym. The WHS women, the No.3 seed, will play Hibriten (5-15; 2-10 NW3A/4A), the No.6 seed, at 6:30 pm. The Panthers have lost nine of their last ten games. The WHS men, seeded second, will play Fred T. Foard (3-19; 0-12 Nw3A/4A), the No.7 seed, in Monday's second game. The Tigers have lost 24 consecutive conference games dating back to last season.
Both the WHS men and women swept their two-game series with Hibriten and Fred T. Foard this year.
The men's and women's semifinals and finals will be played at Hickory High School. The men's semifinal games will be played Tuesday night; the women's semifinals will be played on Wednesday. The conference finals will be played on Friday.
If WHS advances, the men will play the late game Tuesday night; the women will play the late game on Wednesday. The estimated starting time for both those games is set for 8 pm. Our coverage begins at 6 pm Monday night on Oldies 100.7 FM.

NORTHWESTERN 3A/4A CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

WOMEN:

HICKORY                       12-0;  21-2

SOUTH CALDWELL          10-2;  19-5

WHS                              7-5;  12-11

FTF                                6-6;  14-9

ALEX. CENTRAL               3-9;   8-14

HIBRITEN                       2-10;  5-15

ST. STEPHENS               1-11;  2-20

MEN:

HICKORY                    11-1;   20-3

WHS                          9-3;    16-7

ST.STEPHENS             8-4;    18-5

ALEX. CENTRAL           6-6;    10-13

HIBRITEN                   6-6;    6-14

SOUTH CALDWELL      2-10;  2-21

FTF                           0-12;   3-19

FRIDAY NIGHT'S  SCORES:

WOMEN:

WHS 54, ST. STEPHENS 37

ALEXANDER CENTRAL 61, HIBRITEN 38

HICKORY 74, SOUTH CALDWELL 42

MEN:

ST. STEPHENS 65, WHS 50

HICKORY 89, SOUTH CALDWELL 44

HIBRITEN 45, ALEXANDER CENTRAL 41

NORTHWESTERN 3A/4A CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:

WOMEN:

MONDAY'S FIRST ROUND:

HIBRITEN @ WHS

ST. STEPHENS @ SOUTH CALDWELL

ALEXANDER CENTRAL @ FRED T. FOARD

HICKORY - BYE

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS WEDNESDAY AT HICKORY HIGH:

HICKORY vs. ALEXANDER CENTRAL OR FTF WINNER, 6:30 PM

WHS-HIBRITEN vs. SOUTH CALDWELL-ST. STEPHENS, 8 PM

WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FRIDAY AT HICKORY BEGINNING AT 6:30 PM

MEN:

MONDAY'S FIRST ROUND GAMES:

FRED T. FOARD @ WHS

SOUTH CALDWELL @ ST. STEPHENS

HIBRITEN @ ALEXANDER CENTRAL

HICKORY - BYE

MEN'S SEMIFINALS TUESDAY AT HICKORY HIGH:

HICKORY vs. HIBRITEN OR ALEXANDER CENTRAL WINNER, 6:30 PM

WHS-FTF vs. SOUTH CALDWELL-ST. STEPHENS WINNER, 8 PM

MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT HICKORY FRIDAY NIGHT, 8 PM